New regional surveillance system for non-communicable diseases
The Caribbean region can be justifiably proud of its achievement in controlling and even eliminating many of the acute, infectious diseases that plagued our people for generations. The strategies of regional cooperation on disease surveillance and data dissemination were vital contributors to this outcome.
The St. Augustine Campus of The UWI has joined forces with six Caribbean countries (The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) together with CAREC/PAHO and the CARICOM Secretariat to apply these successful strategies to deal with the new enemy—chronic non-communicable disease (CNCDs). The CNCDs include diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancers which together account for the bulk of morbidity and mortality in the region today.
UWI’s work on CNCDs is in keeping with the international and regional focus on strategic responses to CNCDs and their common risk factors (tobacco use, unhealthy diets and lack of exercise). CARICOM and the World Health Organization (WHO) are advocating for a UN Special Session to address NCDs in September 2011. CNCDs are responsible for 60% of all global deaths and are a major poverty issue since of those deaths, 80% occur in low‐ and middle‐income countries, where they cause 14 million premature deaths each year and reduce GDP growth by up to 5%. Dr. Alafia Samuels, an epidemiologist at The UWI, is quoted as having said that, “The Caribbean has the highest burden of disease from chronic diseases in the region of the Americas. For example, the mortality rate from diabetes in Trinidad and Tobago is 700 percent of what it is in Canada.”
UWI is creating a regional data centre in which data supplied by participating countries can be made available to a wide range of users, providing the opportunity for analysis and intervention. Good quality data is key to informing clinical solutions, health policy and programmes as well as the economic models that are to be built to address the growing problem of the CNCDs, and trend analysis would inform of the value of such interventions.
The project is the recipient of US $650,000 in funding provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under its Regional Public Goods (RPG) programme. The RPG programme supports the efforts of IDB member countries to use collective action to find innovative public policy solutions to transnational challenges.
While the University is the executing agency for the project, UWI contributes freely of its staff time and resources to this regional public good. The IDB’s funds have been used for the recruitment of the Project Coordinator, Hyacinth Chow, project consultants, and the hosting of training workshops in the six countries.
The UWI project team led by Professor Surujpal Teelucksingh of the Faculty of Medical Sciences has been working on achieving the project deliverables since the signing of the project agreement with the IDB in May 2008. This team includes Dr. Rohan Maharaj and Dr. Wayne Labastide from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Nazir Aladdin and Daren Dhoray from the Campus IT Unit, and Lauren Boodhoo from the UWI Business Development Office.
The Chief Medical Officers of the six participating countries form the Steering Committee for the UWI project. They viewed a demonstration of the web-based information system at the St. Augustine Campus in April 2010. The Chief Medical Officers acknowledged that the web-based system, created by the project’s consultant software engineer Ashish Bhatt, has the potential to be a “powerful tool” in the countries’ efforts against CNCDs. The interactive design of the system allows for ready availability and analysis of data at all levels: institutional, national or regional.
In addition, Dr Juan Carlos Zevallos, the Consultant Epidemiologist contracted by the project, reported to the Steering Committee on a gap analysis undertaken to determine the six countries’ readiness to collect and deliver in a timely manner the minimum data required. This continues on the work done by CAREC/PAHO and the participating countries to agree on the minimum data to be collected. Dr Zevallos presented his findings and identified best practices that could be put in place to improve data quality.
UWI’s management of the regional project has been lauded by the IDB, which is highlighting it as a flagship project being funded by its Regional Public Goods programme. The IDB has recruited a Consultant to write up the project as a case study given its strategic importance to CNCDs, the regional focus of the project and the one-of-a-kind nature of the project. The focus of the case study is not so much on the technical aspects of the project but rather on the methodologies used to establish coordinating mechanisms among the participating countries, and how the project was able and continues to overcome some of the institutional challenges that most regional projects face.
The success of this project represents a major step forward for the region, and while only six countries are currently involved, the ultimate goal is for the entire region to become involved.
Persons or organisations interested in learning more about the project are invited to contact the Project Coordinator by email to: Hyacinth.Chow@sta.uwi.edu or telephone number: 645-2640 ext. 2930.
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